I have gone through a lot of threads and have realised that as Nigerians, we harbour a lot of bitterness both within our ethnic groups and across ethnic groups.

Yorubas: We are supposed to be educated and we boast of the highest number of educated people in the country. Despite this, we are not able to translate this to wealth and power. We see the northerners as uneducated and it baffles us how they are able to keep hold of the power that has continued to elude us. We sometimes feel that we should pull out of the country from the north although we have not been able to think out how to go about this. The other tribes especially the Igbos are seen as opportunistic and grabbers who will do anything to get rich. We seem stuck in this entity called Nigeria and we don't know how to pull out of it.

Hausas: We feel privileged that we have been in the corridors of power but still baffled that our literacy level is still alarmingly low. We still have strife amongst ourselves although others don't know that but we stay together to be able to stand the challenges posed by the south. We hold on to our religion as it has evidently been out source of strength and has helped us to dominate in the country with assistance from our brothers all over the world.

Igbos: We feel aggrieved that the issue of the civil war has been swept under the carpet. It seems as though no one but us wants to know about it. We feel discriminated against anywhere we live across the country especially in the North and in Niger Delta who hates our guts. The people who we feel were responsible for the genocide against us in 60s are hailed as national heroes much to our dismay. We will give anything to pull out of the country as we feel that the other tribes are pulling us down and we don't really care about the Niger Delta going with us as they are deluded to think by their fathers.



Niger Delta: We see ourselves as the source of wealth for the country. Despite this, we have been brushed aside by every tribe in the country especially the Igbos. They came into our territory before the civil war and dominated everything almost chasing us from our lands and resources. Injustices done to us have been swept under the carpet. Take the Saro Wiwa issue, the Odi issue amongst others. Even the people who are supposed to fight for our resources seem to be fighting for themselves. Our leaders tell us a lot about how other tribes have been trying to take advantage of us but when the little resources that trickles down gets to them, they keep it to themselves.


Minority tribes: We hate being called minority and the fact that we get attached to the nearest major ethnic group. We seem not to have a voice in the country. When the major tribes say something they appear to be better heard than us. Sometimes we get annexed to them especially when we live far from home like the Ibibio man being mistaken as Igbo if he lives in the north or the those from the middle belt being referred to as being hausas etc.


My question now is: Since we all feel bad and insecure in one way or the other, how can we work together to diminish the difference between us and highlight or strengths so that we can move forward? What are your suggestions about how to placate those who feel aggrieved amongst us rather than diminishing how they feel? How can we work together to change the world perspective of us? The reason why I am asking this question is that I have noted the level of bitterness and prejudice in everyone posting something on this website but no one seems to think that this is really a big cog in our wheel of progress.

Annihilate 100 politicians.Others will abscond and there will be peace and progress.

Stop the in-fighting and work together. Apologise for the ills we have caused each other and agree to move ahead. Stop killing ourselves and making a fool of ourselves to the outside world.

I'll pardon your ignorance

dustydee:

I'll pardon your ignorance

Care to define your version of Ignorance?  

quote from naija -swag

Annihilate 100 politicians.Others will abscond and there will be peace and progress.

True talk, I suggest we start from Wadata palaza and then move to the 3 arms zone- all in Abuja.

Zuha:

Igbos:,  We feel discriminated against anywhere we live across the country especially in the North and in Niger Delta who hates our guts.

Naaaaah! Most 'Niger Deltans' either speak Igbo or have a mother who is Igbo. The problem with Niger Delta and the Igbo now is that the Niger Delta is actually regretting the mistakes they made, and some of them have been brave enough to come out and say it. Igbo people don't think 'Niger Deltans' "hate [their] guts" otherwise Bonny would not be Igbo speaking, same for Opobo. The problem now is that the Igbo are resentful of the 'Niger Deltan's' and do not trust them (plus the rest of eastern Nigeria is in a state of 'siddon look' while the rest of the country run around like their house is on fire), whereas the Niger Delta would not hesitate if the Igbo should say they should 'do something' right now . . . . they even invited them.

---

citizenY:

quote from naija -swag

Annihilate 100 politicians.Others will abscond and there will be peace and progress.

True talk, I suggest we start from Wadata palaza and then move to the 3 arms zone- all in Abuja.

[size=18pt]Clearing way for the leader of that assasination team to arise as the next overlord. Anybody who doesn't agree will be assassinated.[/size]

Split nigeria into family union,it will still be the same bull-shit.

I have said it before,i personally find notherners on average more humane than any other tribe in nigeria,there is something about them that one can trust and rely on that you hardly find in other tribes,call it sheepishness if you like,but i think it's divine

if it will solve the problem YES

Nigerian problem is fundamentally flawed,not understanding the basic essence of life puts human beings in the category of robots and inanimate objects just like we have in nigeria.

firstly NIGER DELTA is not a tribe,

Understood all your point but the time says the south must wake up and rule the country

Who said the Yoruba are the most educated? Igbos are on par with the Yoruba on terms of education and we even surpass you in this field.

Most educators are Igbos if you did not know.

But yes this nation needs to be split up.

No

Niger Delta is not a tribe but an entity that has many tribes in it. I cannot talk about all the individual tribes, Urhobo, Isoko, Ukwuani, Ijaw, Itshekiri, Edo, Isan, Kalabari, Ikwere, Ibibio to name but a few. All these tribes have their grievances but have come together as an entity so that they can have a voice.

If we look at what happened in Ghana, they wiped out the old politicians and see how far the country has moved. Goodluck has not even entered and the foolish old politicians who have brought us this low, have already started meeting to advise him.

Even if we split, can the individual entities stay together? Say the Niger Delta forms a country, will all the various tribes mentioned above work together?

Zuha:

Niger Delta is not a tribe but an entity that has many tribes in it. I cannot talk about all the individual tribes, Urhobo, Isoko, Ukwuani, Ijaw, Itshekiri, Edo, Isan, Kalabari, Ikwere, Ibibio to name but a few. All these tribes have their grievances but have come together as an entity so that they can have a voice.

Not true, if it was, then the Ikwerre wouldn't be holding onto Port Harcourt for dear life. The main people 'fighting' for the "Niger Delta" are none of these groups except Ijaw. And Edo part of Niger Delta?

No. only we have to be sincere with each other and live and let live. Confront past mistakes, betrayals and bloodletting, apologise, do reparations where necessary instead of trying to sweep them under the rug so we can leave the past behind, practice true federalism or confederation and move on. In the long run we have more to gain together than apart. Only in the short run can division benefit some groups, certainly not in the long run ala eu, cis, usa, etc the trend is towards conglomeration not seperation.  Seperation should only be a last resort as it is an aberration in todays global developments.

**quote**Igbos: We feel aggrieved that the issue of
the civil war has been swept under the
carpet. It seems as though no one but us
wants to know about it. We feel
discriminated against anywhere we live
across the country especially in the North
and in Niger Delta who hates our guts. The
people who we feel were responsible for
the genocide against us in 60s are hailed as
national heroes much to our dismay. We will
give anything to pull out of the country as
we feel that the other tribes are pulling us
down and we don't really care about the
Niger Delta going with us as they are
deluded to think by their fathers.
---if only this part of history can be amended,then the future peace and unity of this country is guaranteed.

Given the latest events in Nigeria with respect to the bombings and the fact that no one is taking responsibility or resigning, should we still continue in this entity called Nigeria or should we meet to decide the way forward?

Sovereign National Conference!!!

U.N. Sponsored Referendum in relation to Separation or Demarcation. Let the citizenry decide.

Its really painful that we are just plodding on with no one seeking a cure for our problem but rather shifting the responsibility and hoping that we can close our eyes and wake up to see that all our problems have gone away!!! Every aspect of human endeavour in Nigeria is retrogressing and those ahead of us do not think about posterity in anything they do. Hence we find ourselves suffering where those ahead of us were enjoying.

I baffle at places like Ghana. Ghana was almost as bad as we are now if not worse. See how they have turned themselves around. Now we are gradually becoming irrelevant on the world stage and with this continued despicable acts of these Boko Haram in the north and kidnappers in the south, we will eventually be a burden like Afghanistan or Pakistan if we don't do something about it sooner rather than later.

I believe the first step is for us to blur out ethnic divides which if you look at most topics in nairaland, you will see that it is very prominent even amongst us, the youths. We can never work together unless we set these minor differences aside. If that is done, we can then come together and diagnose our root problems and proffer proper solutions to it without caring whose ox is gored.

If we are not able to do this, then I guess my question still stands: Should we disintegrate or should we continue to deceive ourselves that we are one united lovely country?

the only part of nigeria that will come out of a split unscathed in the south west and even then it will have two out of control neighbours

the north will continue its disintegration into full blown Islamic terrorism, and i don't know ho it will split further, since there are no clear demarkations between the christian and muslim communities there

as for the SS/SE, they will be two seperate entities. the biafra war should have made it clear - no tribe wants to be under the ibos thumb. all the calls for biafar are always amusing , given that most of the money made by ibos is outside their home states. the same people shouting biafra are the same people who tell us ibos own 90% of lagos, 100% of abuja etc. are they going to give all this up to go home to a a low income locale where kidnapping , fake drugs etal are 'good business'?

the ND will disintegrate into full scale war. already we see storis in the media of ijaws getting too big for their boots because their son is in aso rock. the numerous militias etal will start a full blown fight for leadership of the region and control of the oil. it will make congo look like a child's playground.

most of these noisemakers calling for disintegration are starry eyed ignorant kids who will see the effects from the safety of CNN.

oyb,
I take some points off your post which were well made but I also note that you were very critical of the Ibos and less so for the Yorubas making me guess right away that you might be Yoruba.

If the above is right, it further underscores the point I was trying to make about setting our differences aside and working together. Every tribe has a problem. No exception. If we continue to blame the other tribe for the problem with Nigeria, it might just mean that we lack any clear insight into our problems and hence the possibility of cure will continue to elude us.

oyb:

the only part of nigeria that will come out of a split unscathed in the south west and even then it will have two out of control neighbours

the north will continue its disintegration into full blown Islamic terrorism, and i don't know ho it will split further, since there are no clear demarkations between the christian and muslim communities there

as for the SS/SE, they will be two seperate entities. the biafra war should have made it clear - no tribe wants to be under the ibos thumb. all the calls for biafar are always amusing , given that most of the money made by ibos is outside their home states. the same people shouting biafra are the same people who tell us ibos own 90% of lagos, 100% of abuja etc. are they going to give all this up to go home to a a low income locale where kidnapping , fake drugs etal are 'good business'?

the ND will disintegrate into full scale war. already we see storis in the media of ijaws getting too big for their boots because their son is in aso rock. the numerous militias etal will start a full blown fight for leadership of the region and control of the oil. it will make congo look like a child's playground.

most of these noisemakers calling for disintegration are starry eyed ignorant kids who will see the effects from the safety of CNN.

mk una leave SE/SS abeg. We r one. Dis past election even show it. Concentreate on ur SW. Jealousy. Name top 5ethnic group in SS.

kcswat:

mk una leave SE/SS abeg. We r one. Dis past election even show it. Concentreate on your SW. Jealousy. Name top 5ethnic group in SS.

election means nothing - if there is an SS nation today, the first order of business will be to impeach gej.

Nigeria has no solution except spliting it into three.

The north and the East has nothing in common,
Different Religion,different language,culture and everything just different.

Nigeria is the highest Mistake in ever made by the British people.

But who will bell the cat?

North are d luckiest people on earth. They enjoy oil money in abundance with absolutely notin to show 4it. They r economic parasite to us. Plz CIA fasten ur dis integration plan in 2015. Thank God igbos much in d US army(africom) that is getting ready 4 2015. BIAFRA we hail thee. Ijaws,ibibios,efiks,urhobo,itshekiris know twho here real enermy n friend are. So OYB we don't need ur help

Yeah, nigeria will certainly be separated.

One nigeria serves the leader not the masses.

O yes!

"To your tents o Israel" is necessary.

Are we not still pointing fingers here?